


Family Portrait

by sunshyndaisies (writergirlie)



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-19
Updated: 2010-02-19
Packaged: 2017-10-07 09:18:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writergirlie/pseuds/sunshyndaisies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus and Tonks share a happy moment with their son</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Portrait

It was the sort of photograph his wife would have divorced him for taking, would have hexed him for sharing with their friends, would have killed him for saying it made for an endearing picture.

 

So it was out of pure luck, then, that he happened not to have his camera with him at the time.

 

Teddy had been especially difficult last night, as only ten-day old babies could be. Sometime early this morning, after the fifth time or so that his cries erupted and jolted both of them awake, he heard Tonks vaguely mumble something that sounded rather like, “You sleep, I’ll go,” followed by a disconcerting bump at the foot of the bed and then a few choice obscenities. (Remus could have sworn his wife tried to hex the bed afterwards for being in her way, but thankfully missed her aim, thereby ensuring that the bed remained intact and he escaped unscathed.)

 

There was silence after that, and then the smooth rustle of blankets, and before long, Tonks’ distinctive voice was singing “Bah Bah Black Sheep” in an endearingly off-key pitch. After a while, she began to hum the tune, this after first stumbling with the words and then briefly making the valiant attempt at making up her own.

 

Remus wasn’t sure whether he drifted off to sleep for five minutes or an hour, but he blinked awake before he knew it, disoriented and feeling a cold, empty spot where his wife usually lay. Nearby, he thought he could hear gurgling---a happy gurgling--and he smiled to himself, realising it was his son.

 

Still groggy, he padded out of the room anyway, wanting to relieve his wife and let her get a few hour’s respite before Teddy called for his attention again. The door to the nursery was open a crack, and he gently pushed it open with his shoulder, then leaned against the doorjamb to take in the sight before him.

 

There she was, collapsed against the arm chair, head lolled to the side and her mouth wide open, hair mousy brown and sticking up in all different directions. But snuggled safely in her arms was little Teddy, eyes wide open and staring in the direction of the window, where the crescent moon was slowly drifting, slowly being swallowed up by the thin film of clouds separating to reveal the rising sun.

 

And he thought to himself, this was an image he had never imagined could come to life. Never dared to conjure up for himself.

 

As if sensing him in the room, his wife came awake slowly, peering out of one eye and then the other, then straightening in the chair and adjusting her aching arms so an elbow could rest on the arm of the chair.

 

“Wotcher,” she said, voice gravelly with sleep. Her eyes crinkled into that smile he loved so. “I look like a right mess, don’t I?”

 

He shook his head.

 

She wrinkled her nose. “Liar. But I love you for sparing my feelings.”

 

He laughed, then approached her, coming down to his knees so they were at eye-level.

 

“I mean it,” he said simply, then he looked down at his son, who had fallen asleep once more. “How long do you think he’ll stay asleep this time?”

 

Tonks shrugged. “Dunno. Two, maybe three hours?”

 

“I can’t wait.”

 

 


End file.
